Pangs of the Messiah

Full of high-stakes political and religious issues, Motti Lerner's "Pangs of the Messiah" is nevertheless a family drama at its heart. Lerner has a knack for creating captivating scenes and concise dialogue, and his play has been staged around the world since its 1986 premiere in Tel Aviv. However, director Edward Einhorn warps what is mostly a good play by placing the emphasis on the political conflicts instead of the familial ones. As a result, talented actors deliver misguided performances, and the production does not capitalize on the play's 11th-hour climax.

Set in the near future, the crises unravel at Rabbi Shmuel Berger's home on the eve of the signing of a peace treaty between Israel and Palestine. Shmuel is against the treaty and will go to great lengths to prevent its approval and save his family and his land. However, there are other factors at play. Shmuel's oldest son, Avner, and Avner's wife, Tirtzah, have returned home after years in the United States. The barren couple has been trying tirelessly to conceive a child, and Tirtzah is irritated by Avner's blooming (and conservative) sister, Chava, who is pregnant with her fifth child. Chava's unpredictable husband, Benny, has a colored past in the Israel-Palestine dispute and has resorted to terroristic peacemaking methods. Benny's father, Menachem, is Shmuel's ally, and as the head of the local community council, Menachem allows Shmuel to take advantage. Meanwhile, the rabbi's wife, Amalia, enters the conflict ready to fight, while their mentally challenged son, Nadav, blindly clings to his house-building project.

Einhorn emphasizes elements such as Benny's terrorism past and Avner's renewed passion for the fight instead of highlighting the family concerns, which is where the brilliant and touching performances surface. Yvonne Roen steals every scene she's in as the childless Tirtzah, torn between her desire to have a baby and her devotion to her increasingly divided family. Max Wolkowitz physicalizes Nadav's mental ailment fluently. Paul Murillo is not believable as Benny, while Gusta Johnson, as Chava, resorts to shouting to fuel disputes. Elliott Mayer is jovial as Rabbi Shmuel, while Sidney Fortner embodies a feminist quality as Amalia. David J. Goldberg is aggravating and dashing as Avner, while J.M. McDonough's Menachem is easy to pity.

Jane Stein's inventive set visualizes the encroaching outside conflict by employing miniature models of cityscapes that are consuming the family's home. Henry Akona's original music is one of the production's highlights, and Jenny Lee Mitchell's clarinet playing is touching. I only wish she hadn't been hidden in the shadows of the stage. These solemn, melodic transitions between scenes definitely aid Einhorn's spotty direction, but the flow still feels curbed.

As the family members test how much they are willing to sacrifice for their Zionistic ideals, the one thing that they think will keep them together threatens to tear them apart. I only wish the drama had flowed as freely as Lerner's radical ideas.

Presented by Untitled Theater Company No. 61 at the Theater at the 14th Street Y, 344 E. 14th St., NYC. Oct. 29–Nov. 20. Thu.–Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m. (212) 352-3101, (866) 811-4111, www.theatermania.com, or www.untitledtheater.com.